1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a running-support system and a running-support method for providing steering support at the time of curve turning.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-327012 is aimed at obtaining a running control apparatus for a vehicle that is capable of performing turning and acceleration of a vehicle on a curved road in conjunction with each other and allows smooth running without any uncomfortable feeling (paragraph [0006] and Abstract). To accomplish the aim, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-327012, when any of a steering angle detected by a steering angle detection section 6, a yaw rate detected by a yaw rate detection section 11, or the curvature of a road ahead recognized by a lane recognition section 1 turns down after a vehicle decelerates from a preset vehicle velocity at the time of running on a curved road, the running control apparatus for a vehicle accelerates the vehicle to the preset vehicle velocity through acceleration control corresponding to a reduction in the parameter (Abstract).
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-327012, at which one of an entrance of a curved road, an exit, and a straight portion a vehicle is running is judged on the basis of a steering angle, a yaw rate, and a lane shape (the curvature of a road) (paragraph [0026]). The lane recognition section 1 is composed of a vehicle-mounted camera 2 and an image processing apparatus 3 (paragraph [0019]).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-101597 is aimed at providing a road shape recognition method capable of obtaining an accurate curve shape (paragraph [0012]). To accomplish the aim, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-101597, the shape of a curve included in a road is recognized using a plurality of pieces of point data (FIG. 1(a)) arranged along the road. A rough shape of the curve, that is, an entering line and a leaving line of the curve are obtained on the basis of the plurality of pieces of point data (FIG. 1(c)). A piece of information on a representative shape of the curve is obtained from a piece of information on the rough shape and pieces of point data within the curve. Preferably, circular arcs passing through respective points within the curve and inscribed inside the entering line and the leaving line are individually obtained (FIG. 1(d)). The representative circular arc shape of the curve is obtained from the plurality of circular arcs by statistical processing (FIG. 1(e)) (Abstract).
The plurality of pieces of point data (FIG. 1(a)) in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-101597 are based on a piece of map data of a navigation apparatus or the like (paragraphs [0024] and [0039]). At the time of recognition of the shape of the curve, a curve start point and a curve end point are obtained (FIG. 1(b) and paragraph [0026]). The curve end point is obtained on the basis of the amount of change in bearing at each point and distances between points (claim 6, paragraphs [0048] to [0054], and FIGS. 12 to 14).